The league’s No. 1 defense is going to carry the Vikings to the Super Bowl. Mark our words. It may not be the Seattle defense from 2013 or the Denver defense from 2015, but it doesn’t have to be.

2

Philadelphia Eagles

13-3

—

It doesn’t matter that the Eagles offense didn’t score a point in the season finale. What’s more interesting is that the defense gave up just six points. Look for a defensive battle in the NFC Championship Game between Philly and Minnesota.

3

Los Angeles Rams

11-5

▼ 2

The Rams offense mailed it in against San Francisco, but what about the defense? It made Jimmy Garoppolo look mortal, at least, but it’s the L.A. Achilles heel. The Vikings will exploit that weakness in the Divisional Round.

4

New Orleans Saints

11-5

▼ 1

That defensive breakdown against Tampa Bay in the fourth quarter on the road is a telltale sign for the Divisional Round against the Eagles. We warned you.

5

New England Patriots

13-3

—

Playing the seventh-easiest schedule in the NFL certainly helped the Patriots to another top playoff seed in the AFC. However, it would be an upset to see any other team reach the Super Bowl from the conference.

6

Jacksonville Jaguars

10-6

—

The Jags probably will face the Steelers in the Division Round, and Jacksonville will be confident. They are the biggest threat to the Patriots in the AFC, and the two teams should meet in the AFC Championship Game.

7

Pittsburgh Steelers

13-3

—

The Steelers have a Top-3 offense and a Top-5 defense. So why do they seem to never impress on the field? Is it coaching? We’re going to find out in the playoffs, but we don’t expect much from Pittsburgh this time around.

8

Atlanta Falcons

10-6

▲ 3

Color us impressed. The Falcons break the Super Bowl loser jinx and make the postseason with Top-10 units on both sides of the ball. If they weren’t playing the Rams in the wild-card round, we’d like their chances to get back to the Super Bowl.

9

Carolina Panthers

11-5

▼ 1

Since beating the Vikings in Week 14, the Panthers have done little to inspire postseason confidence. Expect the Saints to bury Carolina early in the wild-card round.

10

Kansas City Chiefs

10-6

—

Most people are overlooking the Chiefs after a mediocre middle stretch to the season—and the prior postseason shortcomings. But remember, K.C. did handle New England easily in Week 1. Seems like a long time ago, huh?

11

Los Angeles Chargers

9-7

▲ 1

Another “lost” season of opportunity for QB Philip Rivers and the Chargers. This will end up being the refrain for his entire era with the franchise.

12

Baltimore Ravens

9-7

▼ 3

The Ravens offense finished 27th in the NFL for yards gained. Don’t blame the defense for not getting Baltimore to the postseason.

13

Seattle Seahawks

9-7

—

So much for the “12th Man” stuff. The Seahawks lost four games at home this season, their aura shattered in Seattle. Those Washington and Arizona losses sting right about now.

14

Detroit Lions

9-7

—

Funny how well the Lions played on Sunday with nothing at stake. That says a lot about the heart and soul of the team, and it needs more than a coaching change to fix that.

15

Dallas Cowboys

9-7

—

That three-game losing streak in the middle of the season really hurt the Cowboys. No way this team should have missed the postseason.

16

Washington Redskins

7-9

—

Losing to the Giants in Week 17 isn’t a big deal, really. But in a season where Dallas dropped the ball, the Redskins should have been there to pick it up.

17

Green Bay Packers

7-9

—

It’s not like the Packers to finish the season with three straight losses. Is time running out on Aaron Rodgers to win a second Super Bowl?

18

San Francisco 49ers

6-10

▲ 7

Forget the garbage win over the Rams, who mailed it in. Focus instead on how this team attracts free agents in the offseason. The 49ers will be the trendy playoff pick in 2018.

19

Tennessee Titans

9-7

▲ 2

Outscored by 22 points this season, the Titans muscled their way into the AFC playoffs with an ugly win over the Jags. Expect the Chiefs to bury them quickly in the wild-card round.

20

Arizona Cardinals

8-8

▲ 3

We’ll repeat ourselves here. What a coaching job by Bruce Arians this year, missing the best player on his team for more than 15 games—and without his starting QB for most of the season, too.

21

Buffalo Bills

9-7

▲ 1

Good for the Bills, but it’s going to be another one-and-done for them in the wild-card round in Jacksonville. This team had a minus-57 point differential this year.

22

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

5-11

▼ 3

This team had two different five-game losing streaks in 2017. That’s hard to accomplish.

23

Chicago Bears

5-11

▼ 5

Rookie QB Mitch Trubisky finished with a 77.5 QB rating this year, which isn’t bad on such a bad team. There’s hope for the Bears in 2018.

24

Oakland Raiders

6-10

▼ 4

Finishing the season with two different four-game losing streaks probably cost Jack Del Rio his job, but it was a dumb move by the Raiders front office. Surprise? Not.

25

New York Jets

5-11

▼ 1

The Jets that finished the season with four straight losses are the Jets we expected to see all season. Crazy to think this team beat three AFC playoff-bound squads in 2017.

26

Cincinnati Bengals

7-9

▲ 2

Marvin Lewis may be on his way out, but the Bengals really showed in the final two weeks what they’re made of as they eliminated both the Lions and the Ravens from the postseason.

27

Miami Dolphins

6-10

—

After a 4-2 start, the Dolphins put together a five-game losing streak and later a three-game slide to end the season. That’s bad.

28

Houston Texans

4-12

▼ 2

Houston posted a 1-9 record with starting QBs Tom Savage and T.J. Yates. They’ll need better backups in 2018 than that, just in case.

29

Denver Broncos

5-11

—

The Denver defense still finished No. 3 overall in yards allowed this season. The offense was 17th overall in yards gained. However, the Broncos played just two games this year where they didn’t turn the ball over.

30

New York Giants

3-13

—

Says here that Odell Beckham, Jr. comes back in 2018 to post the first 2,000-yard receiving season in NFL history. Won’t matter who is throwing him the ball.

31

Indianapolis Colts

4-12

—

Indy finished 31st in offense and 30th in defense for the season. We have no idea how this team won four games when the Browns couldn’t win one.

32

Cleveland Browns

0-16

—

Finishing 24th on offense and 14th on defense somehow wasn’t enough to keep Cleveland from joining the 2008 Lions in infamy. Football is a funny sport.